


Carrot Boy

by JemiCrisis



Series: Everything the light touches is (mostly) ChenJi [3]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Chenle is just Chenle I guess?, M/M, More chapters to be added... maybe, Short & Sweet, Shy Park Jisung, Time is a theme in this, cafés as well I suppose, name calling in the form of foods because their hair looks like food okay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2020-07-26 00:41:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20035006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JemiCrisis/pseuds/JemiCrisis
Summary: Strawberry meets Carrot





	1. The instant we met.

**Author's Note:**

> I honestly had no idea what I was doing while writing this but I think it’s good? I don’t know if I should make this multi chapter or not

Jisung walks into his favourite shop, Café Timeless. It’s his favourite because the owners of the store baby him a lot, although on the outside it seems like he hates it, he actually loves it so much. Doyoung is the one who babies him the most and treats him as if he is his younger brother.

The café is decorated with multiple clocks, all but one of them have stopped with different times on them. The only functioning clock is the one right beside the door, the quartz mechanism inside ensuring that the time is always correct.

As he is walking to the counter, he can’t help but feel eyes on him, he stops and looks around. His eyes land on the only other people sitting in the café: a group of boys. He can only really describe them by hair colour, one of them has silver hair with a blue fringe, he kind of looks like blue cheese. There’s a light blonde guy, cauliflower boy. Two guys with brown hair, one light and one dark, and they are arguing with each other, he calls them milk and dark chocolate. But the boy that catches his eye is the boy with bright orange hair, carrot boy, who is staring at him. It must’ve been his eyes that he felt. Satisfied that he found the source, and embarrassed to have made eye contact with a stranger, he whips his head to be met with Doyoung.

“Jisung!” There’s a wide smile on Doyoung’s face. Doyoung recites his order before he can even open his mouth, it’s always the same: an ice choco with a blueberry muffin. But Jisung wants something different this time.

“Can I have a mocha instead of ice choco hyung?” He doesn’t expect Doyoung’s face of surprise.

“No! No coffee! Caffeine ruins your sleep schedule, a child doesn’t need coffee!” Doyoung looks very concerned. Jisung appreciates that his hyung cares for him so much but sometimes he goes a bit overboard.

“Hyung, I’m seventeen! I can take just a bit of coffee!”

“Okay okay, but the limit is one caffeinated drink a week! I don’t want you to end up like that boy!” Doyoung points behind Jisung, and he looks at where the finger points and it’s towards the boy with the blue coloured fringe, blue cheese boy.

It just so happens that the cauliflower boy is trying blue cheese’s drink and when he reacts with a face of complete disgust Jisung is glad that his hyung doesn’t let him go awry. Jisung can’t help but notice that carrot boy is still staring at him, he wonders if he was staring this entire time or if it was coincidence.

“What’s in that drink?”

“Venti iced americano with no water, with four extra shots of espresso. It’s absolutely disgusting.” Doyoung makes an appropriately disgusted face. Jisung can’t help but laugh a little. He then hears a shout from behind him.

“Hey hyung! My order is completely fine! If I can drink it it’s good!” All the boys are looking at Jisung and Doyoung now, carrot boy’s stare is still as intense as ever.

“Jaemin! How can you function with that much caffeine in you? I should regulate how many drinks you can get like I do with Jisung!” As Doyoung says the last sentence Jisung feels his hyung’s hand on his shoulder, rubbing it affectionately. Blue cheese, now called Jaemin, just laughs at the comment.

“But if you did that I wouldn’t be able to come in here four times a day to get it!” Jaemin pouts at Doyoung but it doesn’t work.

“That’s the whole point!” With that everyone at the table laughs, including carrot boy, who laughs the loudest in what sounds like a dolphin squeal. Jisung strangely likes that sound.

Jisung sits in his usual spot in the corner, the table for two by the bookshelf, there’s also a big grandfather clock there, like the others it’s time has stopped, specifically attwo minutes and seventeen seconds past two. He always finds this corner comforting as it’s kind of separated from everything else.

It takes a bit for his order to be ready, since they were out of blueberry muffins, but Jaehyun is nice enough to make another batch just for Jisung to have one. Jaehyun always makes sure that he gives Jisung the muffin with the most blueberries. By the time Taeil comes to his table with his order the group of boys have already finished their food and were about to leave.

“Be careful with the mocha Jisung, it’s hot!” Jisung looks up at Taeil and gives him a thank you.

When Taeil leaves he dives straight for the caffeine. He’s feeling a bit tired and wants a little pick me up. It’s the first time he had ordered something different from his usual. When he sips the drink he feels his tongue burning, he hadn’t taken Taeil’s warning seriously enough because jeez does his tongue feel weird now.

He hears the bell of the door ring but doesn’t look up, he assumes that the group of boys left as the laughter gets quieter. He starts eating his blueberry muffin, happy that it’s still warm from the oven but not too hot, Jaehyun really knows how he likes them.

He doesn’t notice when someone sits across from him. He didn’t notice that one of the boys hadn’t left the café. He hears a cough and he looks up, stunned and looks back down again when he sees who it is.

“Your name is Jisung isn’t it?” Jisung tries to form a sentence but his mouth is full of muffin right now so he can’t really say anything, he takes another sip of his mocha to wash it down before answering.

“Y-yes...” he lifts his head up to take a good look at the boy with his carrot coloured hair, flashing an awkward smile. The boy returns with one that can combat the brightness of the sun.

“Hi! I’m Chenle!”


	2. What makes you tick?

“H-hi I’m Jisung...” Chenle lets out a small shriek, again it was dolphin-like, and Jisung is quickly growing attached to the sound.

“Yeah! I know!” Chenle still held his bright grin, in fact, Jisung thinks the smile grew even wider and brighter. If it was brighter than the sun before, it may now be brighter than sun, moon, and stars all combined. Maybe even the entire solar system. Then he processes what Chenle said and he almost fake slaps himself in the face out of habit.

“O-ohh yeah, right...” Like his usual self, Jisung is a complete mess to strangers. He only really started to warm up to the café owners because of their constant efforts. He feels his face heat up because of the embarrassment, it spreads and envelops his whole body. He’s never good at making small talk.

“Hey, are you okay?” Jisung focuses on Chenle’s face of concern. He wants to say that he’s okay but he knows he isn’t and he can only respond with a weak laugh. He knows that won’t do anything to ease the worry but it’s all he can do for now.

He’s surprised when Chenle starts making funny faces and lets out more dolphin noises, loud enough for it to alert the three café owners. But as soon as Jisung laughs their worries fade away and they continue with their business.

Jisung finds himself laughing genuinely at Chenle’s antics and it makes him wake up more than the coffee did. He takes another bite of his muffin and almost chokes on it when he looks at the carrot again, still pulling the most hilarious faces on earth. He swallows before laughing louder than before.

“S-stop it!” He takes a second to breathe “I’m gon-na” another breath “die of hys-s-steri-ia!” Jisung clutches his stomach in pain, he laughs so hard that his insides contort painfully. Chenle stops his shenanigans and he wheezes, out of breath from the intense giggling fit. He can’t remember a time that he had laughed this hard.

“At least you look happy now!” Chenle looks so innocent to Jisung right now with his smile and the twinkle in his eyes. It’s different to the Chenle he was first exposed to, the one bubbling with curiosity, like a cat.

The bell of the door rings again and the same voices from earlier can be heard.

“Oh my god Chenle here you are!” Dark chocolate boy exclaims as he appears beside Chenle. Worry is evident in his expression.

“We didn’t even notice you were gone! Why did you not go with us?” Blue cheese or Jaemin adds a pout at the end of his input. The boy really likes pouting as Jisung observes, he also notices how the cauliflower blushes slightly at the action.

“I just...” Chenle looks to Jisung “wanted to stay for a while longer.”

“Well you staying here for longer means we’re going to be late!” Cauliflower speaks up “I told you all that mother wants us home before eight and look at the time!” They all peer at the sole functioning clock. “It’s five past eight!”

“Actually it’s three minutes and forty two seconds past eight,” Jisung pauses, and adds “and counting” with a whisper. They boys then turn to Jisung as if they had just seen him. He feels embarrassed again, why did he say that?

“Alright strawberry shortcake, who are you?” The dark chocolate boy says with a hint of suspicion in his voice, he probably doesn’t remember him.

Jisung stands up and bows at them shyly out of politeness. “M-my name is Park Jisung, it’s nice to meet y-you.”

“Okayyyy... he is no shortcake!” Milk chocolate laughs out.

“He’s like, strawberry trifle!” Jisung doesn’t feel weirded out by the fact that these boys are arguing over what dessert he is, he himself did call the boys different kinds of foods in his brain.

“I think he’s a strawberry tart!” Chenle bounces out his seat, adding his own opinion to the meaningless conversation. It makes Jisung flush though. A tart? Really? Why is he a tart?

He broods on that question before feeling a hand on his shoulder, it’s Chenle again. He can’t help but think that his smile is tinged with sadness as he says a quick goodbye. Jisung barely whispers a goodbye back as his eyes follow the retreating back of his new acquaintance with his small crowd of friends.

Just like that, he’s gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I literally don’t know whether or not I like this but I already have the ending planned and stuff I just need to do all the middle chapters and that’s gonna be the challenge.


	3. The time of our lives

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah this was way overdue so I just sat down and started writing this because it wasn't gonna write itself now is it? Weekly Idol Chenle was so cute, especially during the yam yam song where he shriek so loud I love him.

Entering Café Timeless has a different experience now, Jisung finds out. Mostly because there’s a chance he’ll see a certain boy playing on his phone in the heart of the café, and he can have the chance to enjoy just looking at him from the sidelines. That’s enough for him. He would walk up to him and talk but he’s too afraid, too shy, both when Chenle is alone and when he’s with the other boys.

Today, Chenle is alone. But in his usual seat by the bookcase. It’s understandable, it’s rush hour after all. He's still flustered that he has to sit near Chenle, there's no other seats in the cafe. As if he knew, Chenle lifts his head from his phone and almost looks at Jisung straight in the eyes. He sees a sparkle form in them, and Chenle waves to him enthusiastically. Now he has no choice, as if he ever had one. He hesitantly shuffles to the seat across from Chenle, who has another shimmering smile on his face.

"It's nice seeing you here! I thought our paths would never cross again!" Jisung develops a deep flush on his cheeks, he wanted to see him again, what a miracle. Jisung thought he screwed up last time they had met.

"Ah. Okay..." He's still a mess. "It's nice to see you too!" He goes to shake Chenle's hand, who offers his, but before he grabs it his hands habitually switch to form a pair of scissors. Chenle's confused when his hands grip not a full fist but two fingers. Jisung laughs awkwardly. "Sorry... It's a habit of mine..."

"Oh!" Chenle laughs and smiles again, maybe a tiny bit wider. "Cute!" That makes Jisung want to scream. He falls dead silent for a few seconds, his mind unable to form sentences to even begin to create a response to whatever that was. So instead, Chenle continues with his thoughts. "Hey, do you wanna try this?" The boy slides a small plate towards him, with a slice of cake already half-eaten. "It's a brand new thing!"

"What is it?" Jisung peers at the dessert, the cake has orange flecks inside of it, there's a swirl of cream and a red sauce beside it.

"I don't know... The guy just told me to try it because they couldn't get anyone else to eat it. But it's not bad or anything, it's quite good!"

"A-alright..." Jisung picks up a fork and uses the edge to cut into the cake before stabbing it with the prongs and eating it. It tastes like carrot cake, and it's sweet. It's nice. He dives into the sauce, which tastes like strawberries. It's not as sweet as the cake, in fact it's slightly tart. There's probably lemon in there somewhere. The cream is different in that it's neutral in taste but it's slightly sweet too, what do they call it... a palette cleanser? That sounds as if it’s more for make up than anything.

"No no you eat it all at once!" Jisung becomes even redder than before. Of course, you eat things together, who would eat things like cream on it's own? Well actually, Jisung does. Sometimes he gets whip cream, the ones in the pressured cans, and just eats it right out of the can. He just fires it into his mouth. It's weird he knows, but his friend Minhyung does it too. So it can't be that weird can it? It's actually quite tasty. Just a whole bunch of artificial cream in your mouth. Please don't think anything else other than it being just whip cream. That's embarrassing. Jisung, being a seventeen year old teenage boy, has enough issues with that kind of thinking.

"O-oh... Right." Chenle snatches the fork from him, before he could protest, slicing the cake into a bite-sized piece with it. He scoops some of the cream and strawberry sauce onto the piece of cake before holding the loaded fork in front of Jisung.

"Go on! Say ah~" Jisung is skeptical, carrots and strawberries don't seem to go well together, but Chenle has already done the work so he leans in and takes the bite. Then he realises what it may look like. He becomes even more flustered, he flaps his arms around him in drowning embarrassment. He just... let Chenle feed him, like a boyfriend would. Chenle misunderstands the situation. "Are you okay?!" He leans over to cup his face but that just makes it even worse as he tries to pull away.

Jaehyun is already beside the table at this point, thinking that Jisung was choking, and starts to do the Heimlich manoeuvre but Jisung scrambles out of his arms in time. “No no hyung I’m okay!” He makes a gesture to stop Jaehyun and he can already feel the eyes from everyone else in the café on him. He’s so embarrassed he just wants to die. He sits back down in his seat, and Jaehyun seems to get the atmosphere as he changes the topic.

”So, do you like the cake?” Chenle nods excitedly which causes Jisung to nod as well. He didn’t actually focus on what the entire thing tasted like because of the whole fiasco but it’s probably good if Chenle likes it. “That’s good! I was inspired by a certain couple whilst experimenting...” Jaehyun winks at Chenle, who responds with a dolphin shriek and balls his hands into fists in cringe. The scene is very cute in Jisung’s eyes, yet he doesn’t know what Jaehyun is getting at, but does it matter? Probably not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: how does one describe food  
Also me: fuck it


	4. Favourite Moments

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bro it has been so long since i have written a thing, i haven't been here for like 5 months!!!!
> 
> Is this even a good chapter? I don't know! :'']

They are back in Café Timeless again, it’s like their meeting place now, running out of things to talk about at every encounter they start talking about the clocks around them, how pretty they look and how the whole place had different moments recorded inside of it.

Of course, it’s impossible to have every moment of the day be stuck on its own clock in the café, that would be forty-three thousand and two hundred individual clocks, the small café definitely didn’t have that much space.

They look around, admiring the clocks, the horologists or clockmakers that have dedicated their time to hone their craftsmanship create such delicate pieces of time-keeping. Chenle stands up from their corner by the bookshelf and grandfather clock, walking to look at a clock from the opposite wall. Jisung hesitantly follows and walks to stand beside him.

“This clock is my favourite” Chenle points, it’s an antique clock with intricate details on the hands, with Roman numerals instead of figures, the time it stopped on is eighteen minutes and twenty-six seconds past seven. It’s a beautiful clock, almost like Chenle’s soul.

“And why is that?” Jisung peers over to Chenle with a curious look, he’s dying to know. He sees the fondness in Chenle’s eyes as the boy looks at him through his bright orange bangs.

“It’s the moment that I first saw you.” Well, Jisung definitely didn’t expect that.

“Was it?” Jisung is intrigued, he wouldn’t bother to remember something like that, but it’s that important to Chenle.

“Yes, I’ll never forget it.”That causes a severe blush to spread across his face, but unlike other times Chenle doesn’t tease him for it, instead he just looks intently at him, waiting.

“Okay,” The gears start working in his head, and Jisung looks at the clock by the door, it’s now twenty-one minutes and twelve seconds to five. He looks around the whole place to find a clock that has the time he wants, the time he needs. He walks over to it gingerly “this is my favourite clock.”

Chenle follows to be by his side, he looks at the hanging pocket watch, it showcases the inside mechanism, it’s mechanical heart, a skeleton pocket watch. The immobile time shows nineteen minutes and fifty-five seconds to five. He’s confused. “Why?”

Jisung's strawberry red cheeks turn into a deeper, almost velvet red as he stutters his next few words, he needs to stall until the time is right.

"J-just wait... please?"

Chenle is, understandably, even more confused. He looks over to the door of the café, the clock with the quartz heart. At twenty minutes to five, Chenle can see Jisung's figure from his side begin to inch closer to him.

Five seconds later, and he is met with soft lips on his cheek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How does one do an ending that will do this fic justice??

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave thoughts and I’ll see if I should continue this or not


End file.
